Special thanks to 4Eagle Ranch and Neal Groff
In July 1969, the world watched and listened as Charlie Duke, CAPCOM for Apollo 11, counted down the lunar module and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first touched down on the moon. As Armstrong radioed “Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed” on July 20, Duke replied, “Roger, Tranquility Base (though he says in a 1999 NASA interview that in his excitement he couldn’t get it out so it came out “Twangquility.) We copy you down. We’ve got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. But we’re breathing again.”
On Apollo 16, Duke became the tenth and youngest person to date to ever walk on the moon. Charlie Duke served in 5 Apollo lunar missions, including as a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 10, CAPCOM for Apollo 11, backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 13 (who accidentally exposed Ken Mattingly to the measles after being exposed via his 3 year old son), lunar module pilot on Apollo 16, and backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 17.
Doug Wheelock brings his own extensive NASA experience to training the Artemis astronauts. He has logged 178 days in space, including on the Space Shuttle Discovery, on Russian Soyuz, and as the commander of the International Space Station. He has participated in six spacewalks. In 2011, he returned to active duty with the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, returning to NASA to the Orion program. As a dual-rated master army aviator astronaut, he has logged more than 7,000 flight hours in 46 different rotary, fixed-wing aircraft and spacecraft.
The program will be moderated by Emmy-award winning journalist, Greg Dobbs. Greg covered the U.S. space program for HD Net television, anchoring live from Florida for the last six years of the shuttle program. He interviewed every crew member pre mission and broadcast from the Kennedy Space Center for every launch and most of the landings.
Tickets are free for kids 12-years-old and younger; tickets are $40 for anyone older than 12-years-old. Your ticket includes a chili bar and a special greeting with Moon Pies and Mars bars. A cash bar will be available. We will be honoring our speakers and other Mercury and Apollo astronaut families in attendance with an honor guard from the Eagle Composite Squadron Cadets of the Colorado Civil Air Patrol; the Vail Valley a cappella group Mountain Harmony will sing the national anthem.
Schedule of events:
5-5:45 p.m. Chili bar and camp games
5:45 -7:30 p.m. Join Greg Dobbs, Charlie Duke and Doug Wheelock for a lively discussion
